


Dibs

by icespyders



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, First Meetings, House Party, Love at First Sight, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:50:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icespyders/pseuds/icespyders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Parties are stressful and terrible and Asahi's just not made for them, plain and simple. What was he thinking showing up here anyway? Okay, alright, maybe they're not so bad. Oh. No. Take it back. (Why do people have to yell weird things at him?) Parties are the worst. (But there are some nice people. Nice people who yell, but still nice.) Or maybe not. He's still deciding. (Maybe.) As long as no one asks him about the drum circle...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dibs

Asahi was many things. Tall, sure, that one was unavoidable. Intimidating, yeah, unfortunately, even though it wasn’t on purpose. Glass-hearted, according to his friends, and, alright, that was also true.

His eyes flickered over the little brass numerals on the apartment doors, finally coming to a halt in front of the correct one; it had to be correct, because it matched the triple-checked number scribbled on his hand in pen, which was already fading because his palms wouldn’t quit sweating.

Asahi was many things, but “good at parties” was definitely not one of them.

How had Daichi and Suga convinced him to leave the safety of his dorm room on a Saturday night again? Probably witchcraft, he reasoned, as he stood there wringing his hands on the doormat instead of knocking like a regular person.

No, no, they meant well, they really did. Ostensibly, they were Asahi’s best friends, because they’d known each other in high school, because Daichi and Suga were pretty great all things considered, and because “social skills” were also not among Asahi’s list of personal traits. His circle of friends was quite small and the friends he did have were always bugging him to go out with them more often. They’d finally succeeded in doing so this week.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun! You know Tanaka’s sister has the best parties. You’ll have a great time,” Suga had said encouragingly, beaming in that earnest way he had.

“It’ll build character. Can’t let you be a hermit forever, Asahi, we’d be terrible friends if we did that,” Daichi had added, his lighthearted words punctuated by a punch on the arm and a critical look that implied hell to pay if Asahi made up an excuse.

So here he was, leaving coursework to fall by the wayside to mingle with a bunch of people he didn’t know. It hadn’t seemed like a bad idea at first, not with Daichi and Suga tag-team persuading him into doing it - that was a funny habit of theirs, sometimes Asahi could have sworn they were able to read each others’ minds - but now that he was here it was obvious that it’d been an awful idea and it was going to be terrible and he was probably going to have a heart attack right here on the welcome mat.

With a deep breath, Asahi tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and tried to steel himself. No, okay, it wouldn’t be that bad. It was only a party and it couldn’t kill him. Daichi and Suga were right, he spent way too much time holed up in his room by himself; the solo dorm allotted to him for being an RA was both a gift and a curse, he supposed, because he could go entire weekends without talking to anybody. And sometimes it was pretty lonely. Daichi and Suga were right: this was a good opportunity to meet other people on campus, make friends, have a good time. And he’d done way scarier things before. Volleyball tournaments were so much scarier than parties, right? Right. The assertion seemed to ring a bit false, because at least you didn’t have to talk much in volleyball. No! No, it would definitely be fine. Daichi and Suga would be there, and Tanaka too, all friends from high school, and he’d even met Tanaka’s sister a couple times, and she was really loud and chatty, but those were probably family traits, and, more importantly, she was perfectly nice, so what was he so worried about? Okay, so, one time Saeko tried to get him to join her drum circle, and he didn’t know how to drum so he’d turned her down, but hopefully she wouldn’t hold that against him…wait, or maybe she would. Was she that kind of person? Why did she assume he could play drums in the first place? Maybe he looked like a drummer; he could ask Saeko when he saw her, he supposed. Wouldn’t that make it more awkward, though? This was already going wrong. He had to get out of here, it was such a stupid idea anyway…

All at once Asahi remembered that he probably should have exhaled a solid minute ago.

His shoulders sagged as he let a long breath out, feeling his head clear in the process. _Okay. Breathe. Breathe normally, not like a deep-sea diver, like a regular person on land._ He always forgot how to breathe when he was stressed and working himself up into a fit like this. _It’s only a party_ , Asahi reminded himself sternly.

He set his jaw and swung the door open, stepping over the threshold and ignoring his growing feeling of dread.

The little apartment was cramped and crowded with people talking over pounding music, lights turned down low except for the bright spot of the kitchen far off across the sea of bodies. People smiled and waved as he stepped in, and he mimicked them even though he was pretty sure he had no idea who they were. It was just in case; he didn’t want to be rude. But that wasn’t so bad. Nothing seemed too unusual; it was only an average, everyday party. Some of the tension in his shoulders started to unfurl itself and, for the first time all day, he felt sort of relaxed.

Asahi had barely let the door close behind him when a voice rang out above the noise, which was a pretty impressive feat, all things considered, but he really didn’t have any time to be impressed because the voice only exclaimed one word that blotted out all other thought:

_“Dibs!”_

He wheeled around at the sound on impulse as his shoulders seized up again, even though his mind assured him no, surely that wasn’t directed at him, that would be so ridiculous…wouldn’t it…?

From across the room he made eye contact with a boy sitting on the arm of the sofa who was practically beaming at him, making it all too clear that, yes, a complete stranger had literally just called dibs on him like he was the last popsicle in the freezer.

As a peal of laughter rippled through the crowd and Asahi’s face turned approximately fifteen different shades of red in quick succession, he came to a decision.

Parties were the _worst ever_.

Ten minutes prior to this, Nishinoya had been starting to kind of think that he might be a little tipsy. Just, y’know, maybe.

Did it really matter though? Nope. He definitely wasn’t shitfaced yet, which was good, it’d make getting home easier. But if he kept eying up the jello shots then he’d be headed down a bad road real quick.

He tore his gaze away to glance back at Tanaka, who seemed to be sinking into the couch and gradually becoming one with the cushions. “Ryuu, if you pass out, I’m not lugging your drunk ass back to the dorms. Just saying,” Noya snorted.

“Shut up, I can crash here if I want,” Tanaka retorted as he knocked back a luridly-colored shot, wincing as it went down. “I don’t need you to lug my drunk ass anywhere.”

“Saeko will kick your drunk ass into outer space if you puke on her floor again.”

“I’m not gonna puke, I bet you’ll puke before I do. Plus it’s her fault for making good drinks. Her and her bartending bullshit. Ain’t my problem if I drink them all,” Tanaka pointed out. It was a pretty fair position, Noya had to admit.

“Your sister’s so cool,” he said, beaming. “I wish I had a cool big sister.”

“No you don’t. My sister’s a freak.”

“I guess it runs in the family, then.”

“Shut the fuck up, Noya,” Tanaka laughed, tossing a throw pillow in his general direction but only succeeding in knocking over empty glasses. “Shit. Did those break? Saeko’s gonna kill me.”

“No, you’re good. She’s distracted,” Noya said gleefully, nodding to the other side of the room and snickering.

Tanaka sat up like he’d been struck by lightning, scowling now. “Noya. Noya, I swear to god, if she’s making out with that short fucker from her job again--” he started furiously, head in hands.

“She’s totally making out with that short fucker from her job again,” Noya informed him, barely suppressing his laughter.

“--I’m gonna _kill that guy_ , I swear to _god_ \--”

“Why do you even hate him so much?”

“Because he’s hooking up with my sister!”

“She really likes him! Don’t be such a dick, Ryuu. Believe in love,” Noya interrupted, one hand over his heart. He dropped the melodrama as he tacked on, “Seriously, you’re her younger brother and that guy’s her age and could definitely take you in a fight, you shouldn’t get involved. Plus Saeko would fight you first if you started shit with him, probably.”

“I could take him in a fight! Dude, come on, back me up here,” Tanaka implored.

Noya clicked his tongue. “No way. Saeko says he has a tattoo and he’s super badass. I bet he’d fight dirty. Go right for the eyes, you know what I mean?”

“Why is she going around with a criminal?” Tanaka griped.

“He’s not a criminal! All I said was he has a tattoo and he’s super badass, that doesn’t make him a criminal. And if you fight him then _you’re_ the criminal.”

Tanaka didn’t argue, instead asking with rising desperation, “She doesn’t actually like him, does she? Like, not for real. They’re just hooking up, right?”

“I’m sworn to secrecy,” Noya reminded him, miming zipping his lips. “Sworn, Ryuu.”

“Ugh, she does?!” Tanaka groaned and sunk back into the couch. “I hate how you gossip with my sister about her love life. It’s so weird.”

“It’s not weird! I’m a good listener. Is that such a bad thing?” Noya asked, picking up a jello shot against his better judgment and poking his finger at the edges as he spoke.

“Whatever,” Tanaka said again, as if this was the be-all and end-all of the conversation and shaking his head.

“ _Whatever_ ,” Noya imitated, throwing his voice and talking around a mouthful of jello, but the sound of the door opening pulled him out of the conversation. Huh. He’d assumed everyone was here already, the party had been going on awhile. At least, he was pretty sure it’d been awhile. His sense of time perception was pretty off the mark even when he wasn’t inebriated.

He squinted through the crowd, eyes adjusting to the light from the hallway and eventually picking out the face of the newcomer, someone he couldn’t recognize immediately. Weird. Noya’s overlapping social circles didn’t tend to exclude people on campus. Maybe it was one of Saeko’s friends?

“Who’s that?” Noya asked, elbowing Tanaka as he spoke. “Ryuu, do you know that guy?”

Tanaka stretched up to see and nodded. “Do I know that guy? Yeah, duh. He went to high school with me and Daichi and Suga, we all played volleyball together. Name’s Asahi. He’s pretty cool. Have you seriously never met Asahi? I’ve known him for ages.” He paused a moment, and then grinned up at Noya. “Hold on. Why do you ask?”

Noya shrugged but couldn’t bite back a smile. “No reason.”

“Oh _man_ , do you have a crush on my old team’s ace? That’s hilarious!”

“Nobody said anything about crushes!” Noya admonished. “I dunno. He’s cute, I guess.” Okay, fine, it wasn’t really a guess, and anyone who was this cute from far away had to be even cuter up close, right?

“Go say hi,” Tanaka suggested. “Asahi’s nice. Like, too nice, probably. It’s a character flaw in his case. Totally hopeless.”

Noya raised his eyebrows, taking in what he could see of Asahi’s rather intimidating physique. He really didn’t like the odd swimmy feeling going through his head right now, one he wasn’t sure he could attribute to alcohol. “That guy? No way!” he burst out.

“Wimp,” Tanaka decided. Seriously, what kind of friend was he?

With an impatient huff, Noya attempted to refute, “I’m not a--”

“Wimp! You totally are. Nishinoya Yuu, professional weenie. That’s you.”

Noya set his jaw. This aggression could not stand. “Fine, I’ll say hi,” he said, as if it was a challenge, and whipped his head back around to call out an extremely enthusiastic, _“Dibs!”_

You know. Just in case people at this party got any funny ideas.

The mysterious mutual friend in the doorway gave a noticeable start, glanced over, and when their eyes locked, Noya felt the bottom drop out of his stomach and his usual stupid panic-reaction grin light up his face, but he couldn’t help it.

Oh. Oh fuck. He was really, really hot. Actually, he pretty much transcended hot, he was on a completely different plane of attractiveness.

And he was also shuffling away through the crowd, evading Noya’s gaze as if physically repelled by it. Oh, _fuck_.

Tanaka was laughing wildly next to him as Noya fell back to earth, feeling his heart doing flip-flops like it was constantly missing a beat. “Holy shit! Wow. Wow,” Tanaka managed, breathless from hysterics. “Damn, Noya, that was _smooth_. I think he likes you, did you see how he immediately moved to get as far away from you as possible? I never saw him go that fast during matches!”

“Ryuu. Ryuu,” Noya said, voice hushed, transfixed as he followed Asahi’s head sticking up above the crowd. God, he was tall and hot and _holy shit look at his hair he was perfect._

“What?” Tanaka asked, still wheezing.

“I have to marry him,” Noya declared solemnly. He was pretty sure he’d never been this serious about anything in his entire life.

“You have to _what_.” It didn’t come posed as a question, but rather a flat statement, and it was kind of incredible how quickly the amusement had left Tanaka’s voice.

But now was not the time to think about that. Noya seized Tanaka by the shirt collar, shaking him as he repeated with increased passion, “I have to marry that man, Ryuu! Have you _seen_ him, he’s _gorgeous_!”

“Woah, woah, woah! Dude! Noya! Relax!” Tanaka shouted, prying Noya’s fingers off one by one. “Don’t wreck my shirt just ‘cause you want to get laid!”

Noya glared, feeling his lip jut out in an indignant pout. “This is more important than getting laid! I am going to devote myself to that guy, I swear,” he retorted heatedly. “Like, heart and soul. I’m gonna have that guy’s babies.”

“Noya,” Tanaka started, with the overburdened air of someone talking a child out of a temper tantrum, “two seconds ago you didn’t even have the nerve to talk to him, remember?”

“That was two seconds ago before I realized he was my soulmate, obviously! See, I keep telling you, your problem is you just don’t believe in love,” Noya replied with an impatient _tsk_ , crossing his arms as he spoke.

The confusion on Tanaka’s face was slowly morphing into amusement again. “I called it, didn’t I? You have it so bad for him. Go say hi!” he insisted again.

Noya nodded, feeling bolder and bolder with every passing moment. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“Alright, so go already!” Tanaka said with more urgency and trying to shove Noya off the couch as he talked.

“I have to make sure everything’s perfect! Do I look okay? How’s my hair?” Noya asked, squinting at Tanaka as he spoke. “Don’t lie, alright, this is important.”

“Yeah, you’re fine. You look like you’re going super-saiyan just like always,” Tanaka said over the rim of his drink, snickering.

“Ryuu!” Noya all but whined, reaching over to punch Tanaka’s arm. “Be serious!”

“I am! It works for you! But Noya…listen, I told you, Asahi’s not as tough as he looks. You gotta play it cool. You can’t startle him, he’s like a…like a baby deer or something. Approach gently, y’know. Like you’re a Disney princess in the forest and you’re trying to make an animal friend.”

Noya wrinkled his nose at that. “Wait, what? No, he’s a man. A hot man. Not a deer. What the fuck, I’m not gonna flirt with a _deer_.”

“Okay, okay, that got away from me,” Tanaka replied, waving Noya off. “The point is, he’s not gonna just run off into the sunset with you on the spot.”

Noya scoffed. “And why not? I’m super romantic,” he pointed out.

Tanaka stared at him for a long minute, eyebrows raised, before cracking out in a grin. “You know what? You’re so right. You got this.”

“I got this,” Noya repeated, fussing with his hair absently as he spoke.

“Pro tip, though, he’s not a party guy,” Tanaka advised. “There’s no time to waste here. If I know Asahi, he’s probably trying to escape out the bathroom window by now. See, that’s why you don’t know him, he never goes out. I didn’t even think he’d show at all.”

Noya’s eyes were glittering as he listened. “Think I could convince him to take the party elsewhere, then?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

To his surprise, Tanaka burst out laughing again, even louder than before. Noya squinted and crossed his arms. Once Tanaka settled down, he pronounced with absolute finality, “Not on your life, bro.”

Undeterred, Noya replied, “Worth a try, though, huh?”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high, but hey, you’re right. You never know. If anyone could pull it off, it’d be you,” Tanaka said, and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I bro-lieve in you, man.” Noya nodded in reply, overwhelmed with confidence. Tanaka always knew what to say.

He looked up again, trying to pick out Asahi from the crowd and swoon some more, but his heart sank when he realized Asahi had disappeared entirely. “Hey, where’d he go?”

“Told you. Right out the window,” Tanaka said, laughing as he shook his head and picked up another drink. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Without another word, Noya bounded off the couch and shoved his way through the crowd, quickly vanishing from sight.

Meanwhile, Asahi was coming to the worrying realization that he absolutely could not fit through this bathroom window.

Why did people have to make their bathroom windows so small? He probably couldn’t even fit one shoulder in this tiny sliver of dashed hopes for escape. He sighed heavily and leaned his forehead on the tiled walls. At this point, he didn’t even care what Daichi and Suga would say; he couldn’t find them anywhere, even after doing an almost-full rotation of the apartment, and he wasn’t going to drift around this party stammering and sweating from stress all night.

What did calling dibs on another human being even _mean_? Was he supposed to say something back, or just laugh it off, maybe? Was he overthinking all of it? Maybe dibs guy had meant well; he had been smiling, after all. It was still kind of embarrassing no matter what the intention was. Asahi replayed the moment in his mind yet again, winced, and feebly waggled his fingers in the crack of the window. He had to get out of here.

He shuffled out of the bathroom, thankfully somewhat removed from the living room in a back hallway. And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it: a real, properly sized window.

With a furtive glance around - no one was nearby, he didn’t hear any footsteps approaching, he was in the clear - he stepped over to it, staring at the fire escape through the glass.

Sweet freedom was within his grasp. But Asahi bit his lip and hesitated with his fingers on the ledge because, okay, yeah, getting out of here would be nice, and obviously going out the front wasn’t feasible because everyone had seen him walk in not ten minutes ago and that would be embarrassing, but was this fire escape safe? There was really no way to tell. They weren’t that high up, but he would probably still die if he fell, and then Daichi and Suga would just sigh and shake their heads at his funeral as they recounted that he died because he was too wimpy to survive one little party, and Tanaka’s sister would probably say he deserved it because he refused to join her drum circle, and there wouldn’t be anything he could do about it. The fire escape _should_ be safe, because they’d have to use it in an emergency, but then again, he didn’t know the maintenance history. Maybe he should ask Saeko, but that’d be awkward considering it was her party he was desperately trying to escape from, and there was still the drum thing, and what if--

“Hey!”

Asahi whirled around, blocking the window with his body to see none other than the dibs guy crowding the hallway with him.

“H-hi?” he stammered out in reply, eyes flickering up and down from the floor to the dibs guy and back again in endless loops. He was really short up close, but that same grin from before was unmistakable. And the hair was a dead giveaway too. Asahi wasn’t sure why he recognized the smile before the hair, considering the latter was more unusual.

The dibs guy seemed unruffled by Asahi’s obvious uncertainty, proceeding with, “You’re Asahi, right?” He stepped closer and held out a hand to shake, jabbing the thumb of his free hand to his own chest. “Nishinoya Yuu. Nice to meet you.” Asahi just stared at Nishinoya Yuu’s open palm, mouth agape, and Nishinoya Yuu cocked his head, eyebrows knitted together. “Call me Noya,” he tacked on, filling the silence.

“Uh. Okay. Noya,” Asahi repeated, forcing words past his mouth one by one because his other option was just silently staring at the guy, which would be pretty weird.

“Yup!” Noya affirmed with a nod; he brightened for a minute, but the silence kept stretching and then he went on critically, “Do you, like, not shake hands or something? Is it a germ thing?”

“Oh! Um, no, it’s fine, I’m sorry,” Asahi managed, shaking Noya’s still-outstretched hand and dimly appreciating how warm his fingers were before remembering he had sweaty palms and this was probably gross, promptly pulling away without realizing how tightly Noya was holding on. “Wait, how do you know my name?” he asked. “Have we met?”

“Nope!” Noya said cheerfully; the idea that a complete stranger somehow knew him by name was extremely frightening and it must have showed on his face, because Noya hurriedly continued, “I’m Ryuu’s roommate, he told me about you.” The split second of confusion had to have showed, too, because Noya amended, “Tanaka. He says you went to high school together.”

“Right. I knew that,” Asahi replied as the tension slipped from his shoulders, valiantly pretending like he hadn’t just forgotten the first name of one of his good friends from high school. So Noya knew Tanaka. He wasn’t a total stranger, then. This was fine. He was mingling. Normal party stuff, definitely. He could handle this.

Noya grinned still wider and took bounding steps to sidle up next to Asahi, who was now leaning on the window sill. The sudden closeness made his fingers seize up on the ledge, and he was grateful that he could bite back the surprised little squeak that threatened to burst from his mouth. Maybe he couldn’t handle this, then. In his defense, there was no good way to prepare; Noya moved like wind or water or something else suitably poetic, slipping from place to place like he was meant to be there all along. “Cool. Ryuu says you played volleyball together, is that true? I played too! Well, I mean, I still play, I’m on the university team. Dunno how far I’ll keep going, but it’s great right now. I’m a libero, by the way. Not just ‘cause I’m short, because I’m good at it.” It suited him, Asahi decided once his brain caught up with the high-speed verbal assault. It was something about the ease of Noya’s movements, how they must have been practiced until they became instinctual. “What about you?”

Asahi promptly forgot how normal human beings held conversations and struggled through his answer of, “Me? Oh! I’m a…well, I was a wing spiker.”

Noya nodded knowingly. “Yeah, it’s easy to tell just looking at you. Got the right build for a real intimidating wing spiker,” he said casually; wait, what did that mean, _the right build_ , the right build for _what_? He was reading too much into it. He had to be. Still, Asahi’s heart skipped approximately five beats when Noya added, grinning wide, “I heard you were the ace, right?”

It’d been a while since anyone had applied that label to him. Asahi shifted from foot to foot as he mulled over an answer, because sometimes, he couldn’t even answer that to himself. “Not the best, but yeah, I guess. By default, mostly,” he finally demurred in a mumble.

Noya scoffed. “What kinda talk is that? Either you were the ace or you weren’t. No defaulting here,” he objected.

“It kind of is by default, though? Usually whoever scores most is called an ace, so there’s numbers involved. You can be ace by default.”

Another scoff. Noya glanced up at him, eyebrows raised and still grinning. “Come on, Asahi, you and I both know it’s way more than numbers,” he said. “You can say so. When you’re good at something it’s not, like, _conceited_ or anything to say so. And I’m sure you were great!”

He kind of had a point, but it was a point that struck Asahi silent, and he stared at the floor as he felt his face go red again. Geez. He couldn’t even handle taking compliments anymore, so maybe Daichi and Suga were right about him being a hermit.

In the back of his mind, Asahi considered how Noya had defaulted to using his first name, which was kind of unusual, but at the same time he didn’t have the heart to correct it. It just seemed to work, like everything else Noya did. Easy and natural, like it was meant to be.

Finally Asahi managed to chuckle, fingers twirling an errant strand of hair nervously. “Tanaka was probably too complimentary,” he answered with a shrug.

“No, not really. He didn’t tell me much besides that. Oh, except that you’re nice, but too nice. He said it was a character flaw,” Noya informed him bluntly, and Asahi felt a little insulted; he had to admit it was true, even though he didn’t really want to. Especially not to Noya, who seemed much too cool to be talking to him in the first place. But he was quickly distracted by Noya wheeling around him in a blink and ending up on Asahi’s other side against the window ledge, like he was trying to get a fuller look at him. “Your team won plenty of games, I remember hearing about you. Well, not you specifically, but all of you. But all the good teams have to have a good ace, so you must have been one!”

“No, there were…you know…others on the team, it wasn’t just--”

Noya breezed past the argument all too easily, explaining, “See, a good ace is super rare! But you can train anybody to be a good libero, I’m only good because I worked at it so hard.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially, like he was telling a secret, and Asahi ducked down closer to hear at the same moment Noya stretched up; he looked away quickly to avoid the sudden closeness and the strange way it made his heart race. “Alright, lesson number one in libero school: you gotta be fast, y’know, quick on your feet, ready for anything! Sometimes you have to snatch the ball up in a second to make sure it doesn’t hit the floor. That’s your job, keeping the connections. I’m sure you know. Good teams are good receivers. Good teams are good at everything, that’s why they’re good. Duh. Hey, why doesn’t your phone have a lock code?”

“Because I’m worried I’ll forget it,” Asahi blurted out immediately, still staring at the ceiling, but he glanced back with a start. “Wait, how do you--?”

But Noya wasn’t listening, instead snickering as he tapped at a phone screen, and, hey, hold on, that was Asahi’s phone screen, how had he…? “Seriously? That’s cute. But a bad idea! Come on, if you don’t have a lock code, anybody can just put their number in your phone,” Noya admonished, as he started doing exactly that while Asahi groped at his own pockets, as if trying to prove the phone was still there. It wasn’t, obviously, because he was staring at Noya hit the buttons on the keypad at this exact moment, why was he checking his pockets?

“Why do you have my phone?” he asked, gaping and feeling like he was on tape delay.

“Told you. Liberos gotta be fast,” Noya answered, flashing a mischievous, yet entirely too charming, grin. “I pickpocket Ryuu all the time. I like setting his ringtone to heavy metal screaming and then texting him ten times in a row, he goes totally nuts.”

“But…”

“Let this be a lesson to you: get a lock code, or else people at parties are gonna take selfies with your phone. Duck down, I can’t fit you in the frame,” Noya continued authoritatively, and Asahi did so before his brain could catch up and realize Noya was actually taking a selfie with somebody else’s phone. His phone. Noya still had his phone, which he had admitted to pickpocketing, and Asahi was letting it happen without any sort of complaint. “Jeez. Tall people. You’re already blessed with height, you ought to be more accommodating, am I right?”

“Hey--” he started, fully intending to maybe give Noya a piece of his mind.

“Nice. This is definitely going on Instagram,” Noya decided cheerfully, before furrowing his brow and tsking at the phone as he typed at a manic speed. “You have Instagram, right? Wow, why don’t you have the app? The browser version’s way slower. Well, whatever, you’re following me now, so you’re welcome.”

“Uh…” Asahi attempted again. This time for sure he’d say something coherent. Maybe. No, scratch that.

Noya glanced up at last. “What, too forward?” he asked bluntly, and Asahi had a funny feeling he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, a little,” Asahi replied, frowning. There. Good. Brilliant, even. He was basically full of righteous indignation right now.

Oddly enough, Noya only grinned wider. “Ryuu’s right! You are too nice, you should have kicked my ass, like, _immediately_ ,” he said as he handed the phone back. “You could probably throw me out this window if you wanted to, you’re practically two of me! Why didn’t you get mad or anything?”

The righteous indignation slipped away as easily as it had materialized. Oh. It was a test of his good nature or something. To see if he really was too nice, however Noya decided to interpret that. Weird, but at least Noya was explaining himself. And to be entirely fair, he kind of had a point. In a very convoluted way, of course, but even so. “I mean…” Asahi shuffled his feet as he put his phone back in his pocket, hands hovering over it as if expecting another pickpocketing. “It’s harmless, really. You’re not…you know…a bad person. It’s not a huge deal.”

Noya crossed his arms. “Excuse you, I’m a delinquent. Totally dangerous,” he replied haughtily.

“Which is why you stole my phone just to take selfies and then hand it back?” Asahi asked after the briefest lull.

He found himself laughing when Noya’s cheeks went pink and he sputtered out, “Hey, it was still stealing! It counts as, like, criminal mischief, probably!”

“Probably,” Asahi conceded, muffling laughter behind his hand.

Noya held on to his ire for another moment, but soon rolled his eyes and started smiling again. “Oh! Ryuu said something else about you. You don’t like parties, right?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“Well, it’s…it’s not that I don’t like them,” Asahi replied quickly, tripping over words. “I don’t go to a lot, but…”

“You don’t go because you don’t like them, right?” Noya interrupted.

“I guess,” Asahi admitted. It was uncanny how easily Noya could see through him after knowing him for all of ten minutes. Well, Asahi had never considered himself a decent liar in the first place. He wore his poor glass heart on his sleeve.

“So what are you doing here?”

Asahi didn’t particularly want to admit it was because of well-intentioned peer pressure, because that sounded really lame, and yet he still heard himself saying, “My friends thought it’d be a good idea. They’re worried I’ll become a hermit.” That was probably the nicest way to phrase it.

“What, did they goad you into it?” Noya asked, teasing. And that was probably the most accurate way to phrase it.

“Pretty much,” Asahi confirmed. “They made it sound like such a good idea at the time…”

“Why aren’t you hanging with them instead of me, then?” Noya pressed on, this time looking genuinely curious.

Asahi shuffled his feet. “I can’t find them. They should be here, but I haven’t seen them yet,” he said. “I think it’s on purpose, if I’m honest. They’re always telling me they think I should meet new people.”

“They sound like they could be your parents,” Noya said with a snort.

“Sometimes it feels that way,” Asahi admitted sheepishly, but saying so seemed worth it when Noya burst out laughing again.

He went quiet after a moment, studying Asahi up and down with a gaze that could only be described as…well…intense. Asahi fussed with his hair and pretended not to notice. “I don’t get it. Tough-looking guy like you, what’s so bad about parties?” Noya asked. “All you gotta do is talk and smile for a couple hours.”

Asahi mulled it over. “Well. Sometimes strangers yell weird things at you and then you end up almost climbing out a fire escape to get away,” he said slowly. “And then the same people steal your phone. Stuff like that doesn’t happen when you’re not at a party.” He didn’t intend for it to be mean. Just honest. Even so, he felt a little twinge of guilt watching the realization crash over Noya’s face; he wore his heart on his sleeve, too, it seemed.

“Hey, wait. You mean me, right? You totally mean me! Shit, you must think I’m a fucking dick!” Noya burst out, looking panicked. “And…hey, wait, there’s a fire escape through…was that what you were doing back here? I drove you to going out a _fire escape_?! I’m so sorry! Really, seriously, I only yelled at you ‘cause Ryuu was riling me up, okay, I swear I’m not a creep or anything, he was just getting on my case ‘cause I wouldn’t talk to you so I had to prove I would and that made sense at the time! I thought it’d be, like, a funny icebreaker!”

“It’s…it’s okay! You’re not so bad, I’m fine!” Asahi stammered, but Noya wouldn’t hear any of it. Maybe “not so bad” wasn’t such a ringing endorsement, but saying anything too complimentary would probably be just as weird.

He couldn’t really put a name to how he felt around Noya, because by his usual standards talking to someone like him would induce nothing but frantic anxiety. But Noya was the exception. No matter what he did, Asahi still felt better being around him than not. If Noya hadn’t found him he’d probably be calling someone for help about getting off the fire escape by now.

“No, no! You think I’m a weirdo. Tell me, I can take it!” Noya insisted stubbornly, crossing his arms and glaring up at Asahi. “And you should know that fire escape hasn’t been inspected in like, twenty years, so you probably would have died, and that would have been _my fault_ \--”

“I was wondering about that, actually,” Asahi admitted.

“Hold on, this isn’t my fault. Go yell at Ryuu, it’s basically his fault!” Noya reasoned, gesturing vaguely at the entire rest of the party. “If he hadn’t been calling me a wimp I wouldn’t have done it!”

“Why was Tanaka calling you a wimp?” Asahi couldn’t think of a less appropriate descriptor for someone so bold.

“I _told_ you, ‘cause I wouldn’t say hi to you when you came in. Pay attention already!”

“You did in the end, though, so that’s what counts?” Asahi pointed out, still not quite understanding. “It’s not like you were, you know, nervous to talk to me or anything, you’re not nervous at all.”

“Well, I was!” Noya informed him pointedly, and there was a flush rising up his face now, and Asahi couldn’t decide if it was from alcohol or overexcitement or embarrassment. But from the way Noya had been rambling, it easily could have been the last option, and that idea sent his stomach flipping again. How could someone as unassuming as him get someone like Noya so worked up? It didn’t make any sense.

“Why?” he asked.

And then something utterly shocking happened: Noya got quiet. His fingers drummed erratically on his thighs before clenching up into fists, all as he stared holes in the floor under his feet. “No reason,” he finally replied, and the words were quiet and rushed and the flush on his cheeks wasn’t visible anymore, not with how he’d turned his head, but Asahi could have sworn he saw it creeping up the back of Noya’s neck.

Asahi was very familiar with what bouts of anxiety could do to the body; he was used to twisting stomachs, tight throats, and pounding heartbeats.

Whatever he was feeling now as his mind tried to process Noya’s embarrassment was. Well. Different from all of those. Lighter. Infinitely more pleasant.

“It was a little funny,” Asahi attempted. “In…retrospect.”

Noya snorted, still staring away. “You don’t have to try and make me feel better,” he said.

“Okay, it was pretty weird,” Asahi tried instead, and funny enough, that seemed to click better. Noya had his arms crossed now, but he met Asahi’s eyes again, expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

“You’re tactless, Asahi,” he complained, nudging his shoulder into Asahi’s arm, lingering for perhaps a split second too long. The flip-flopping in Asahi’s stomach got more frantic but it still didn’t bother him; instead it felt like his chest was filling up with warmth. “Well, if you don’t usually spend your time at parties, what do you like to do instead?” The more Noya spoke, the more he seemed to find his footing again, confidence slowly building up, and Asahi let himself fall into the lull of their back-and-forth.

“Nothing exciting,” Asahi admitted. “Homework, I guess?”

Noya groaned. “Oh my god, you’re a nerd,” he decided, shaking his head. “I’m falling asleep just listening to you. You have to do something else, come on.”

He was curious, Asahi realized. Trying to learn more about him. Trying to get to know him. And he decided, yes, he wanted Noya to know him better, so he considered, finally settling on something safe: “I watch stuff. TV and movies. It passes the time.”

“Let me guess, you’re a big horror movie aficionado. The stuff with all the blood and screaming and, like, people getting their eyeballs stabbed out. It’s always the quiet ones who like the slasher flicks, right?” Noya asked. It was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic or genuine.

Asahi winced; the mental image alone was making him feel sick. “No, I’d cry if I had to watch one of those. I mean, I cry at everything, pretty much, so that’s not a really good example of a reaction, I guess, but. I’d be really unhappy if I had to watch one of those. Leave it at that.”

“Wait, seriously? No way. You can’t really mean _everything_ ,” Noya objected, sounding awed.

“Everything,” Asahi confirmed. He didn’t think Noya would make fun of him, and it was one of those traits that said a lot about a person, so it had to be good to bring up.

“What about, like, happy stuff? Kid movies? Romances? Seriously, everything?!”

“Everything,” Asahi said again. “There’s such a thing as happy crying, you know. I’m…moved. That’s what shows are supposed to do, right, make you feel stuff?”

Noya was still shaking his head and let out a laugh. “Okay, that’s it. You can’t handle the world, I’m taking you back to your dorm before you spontaneously combust. It’s for your own good,” he announced, and seized Asahi by the wrist, dragging him through the hall to the front door.

“I…what?” Asahi asked, laughing along too. Noya was weaving his way through the crowd without any hesitation, but since Asahi was taller, it was harder for him to follow along, and he kept bumping into people’s shoulders and repeating himself apologizing over and over. Oh. He’d been serious. He was starting to learn that Noya was usually serious, even in situations where other people would be joking.

“You heard me! Some people aren’t made for parties, and you are the textbook example. You don’t have to torture yourself, Asahi,” Noya informed him, clicking his tongue and walking directly into somebody. “Excuse me. Alright, don’t give me the evil eye!”

“Sorry,” Asahi apologized for him.

“Don’t apologize for that!” Noya reprimanded.

“Sorry.” Noya glared. “I mean! I’m not sorry? I am, but--” Noya flung the door open and they were back in the hallway; the air outside the apartment was refreshingly cool but Noya was still leading him down the stairs, past all the doors, out to the street, starting down the block back to campus. He couldn’t say he was ungrateful for the quick escape - he had been planning on leaving, anyway, and this route didn’t involve potentially dying - but why was Noya bothering to do it at all, and keep going with him like this? “You didn’t say goodbye to anyone,” Asahi pointed out, leaning around to try and catch a glimpse of Noya’s face.

“I see Ryuu and Saeko all the time, they won’t mind,” Noya answered easily. “Which dorm’s yours? Ryuu and I are in the shitty one by the dining hall but it’s cool, nobody cares when we have parties at our place.”

“I’m by the library,” Asahi answered. “But--”

“No shit? That’s the nicest one! I should apply to be an RA next year if it means I get to live there. And then my parties would be official, right?”

“It doesn’t work like that, you’re still not supposed to have too many people in your room.”

“Ah, well, the rules are meant to be broken, aren’t they?” Noya said, turning back to flash Asahi grin just as they passed under a streetlight, and the glow of it framed him perfectly for one split second. His hand was slipping from Asahi’s wrist and in another minute they’d actually be holding hands.

Asahi stopped in place, digging his heels in when Noya insistently tugged him forward. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, and Noya turned to face him, brow furrowed. “I mean, it’s really nice of you! But I don’t get it. You didn’t have to walk me back home, I’m okay. I made it really obvious I don’t like parties, I guess, but you do, right? So you didn’t have to leave just for me.”

“Why?” Noya repeated, staring at him in disbelief. “Why do you _think_?”

Asahi blinked. “Um. I don’t know. That’s what I was asking,” he replied. Noya said nothing, just kept staring at him, and again, being under his gaze was being under the most intense scrutiny possible; Asahi thought it’d been bad to have a whole gymnasium full of people staring at him playing volleyball, but Noya’s stare was a million times stronger. “You don’t have to answer,” he said, trying to fill the silence and starting to walk ahead, past the university gates, down the main pathway, and he only stopped when Noya called out from behind him.

“It’s because I like you.”

Like with everything else, he was serious, and the reality of the words made Asahi shiver and freeze in place.

“What?” Asahi asked, turning back to him, and the streetlights were throwing him into contrast now; Noya was a silhouette taking long steps over to him, closing the distance that had opened between them.

“I said, it’s because I like you,” Noya repeated, gaze fixed straight ahead and words certain, and when he’d gotten to Asahi’s side again he craned his neck up to look at him, and that same shiver went all the way down to Asahi’s bones. “And I want to see you again sometime. We don’t have to go out anyplace if you don’t want, it doesn’t matter to me. So?” Silence hung between them, punctuated only by the sound of the wind rippling through the boughs of the trees overhead, distant traffic, but nothing, nothing was louder than the silence of Noya waiting for him.

 _Say something. Anything. You have to say something,_ he thought frantically. “Oh,” Asahi squeaked out. _That was terrible!_

Noya frowned at him. “Oh _what_?” he demanded to know.

“I meant! Sorry, I meant…yes. Sure. Okay,” he tried again.

“You are making this so _agonizing,_ Asahi,” Noya groaned, rolling his eyes and starting to pace back and forth in front of him. “Have some pity on my heart!”

“I don’t mean to…! I’m not good at talking! You know, you’ve been talking to me, I’m terrible at it!” Asahi protested, words erupting from his mouth frantically.

“You mean it, though? I heard a yes in there,” Noya asked, stopping in place with his arms crossed. “You better mean it.”

“Yes! Yes, definitely,” Asahi managed. “I meant it. You’re…really interesting, Noya.”

“I’ll take you to dinner and we can try and find a movie you won’t cry at,” Noya said, sounding almost like he was thinking out loud. “You know, ordinary cliché stuff. Nothing crazy. You good with that?”

“Yes--”

Suddenly he squinted and interrupted, “Wait, what do you mean, _interesting_ , is that a good thing or are you just calling me weird really politely?”

“It’s not a good thing to be interesting?” Asahi asked, perplexed.

“I mean, it is, but only if you mean it in a good way!”

“Okay, I do!”

“Alright! Good.” Noya stepped close again and Asahi could see he was thinking, but he said nothing for the longest time.

Maybe there was something on Asahi’s face. “Is…everything okay?” he asked, eyes darting back and forth to stare at him and away from him, never deciding which was best.

Finally, Noya sighed, the sound extravagantly melodramatic. “You’re too tall,” he complained, and tugged Asahi down by his jacket to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Everything Noya did demanded attention, so it was pretty surprising how soft and polite the kiss was. Nothing lingering, nothing insistent, nothing edging too close to Asahi’s mouth, as if Noya was afraid of crossing a line too fast. Just a perfectly chaste peck on the cheek. But even so, Asahi didn’t think he’d forget it.

They stared at each other after Noya pulled back, Noya falling back onto his heels - he’d been tiptoeing and, if Asahi was being honest, that fact was kind of adorable - but Asahi still leaning down. Noya broke the silence: “You better call me,” he said sternly.

Asahi nodded. “I will. I mean, you put your number in my phone but you didn’t get mine. It’s my responsibility to call.”

“Don’t call because you’re responsible, call because you want to!” Noya said crossly. “Now come on, let’s get you back to your dorm.”

This time Noya did take his hand, properly now, with their fingers intertwined and everything as he led the way, cutting across the lawn behind the library, caught between lamplight and moonlight depending on where they stepped. The quiet was comfortable and they spoke by swinging their hands, brushing their fingers across each other, guiding each other down the dark campus paths. They stopped on the steps outside Asahi’s dorm and Noya shoved his hands in his pockets; Asahi missed the warmth of his palms already.

“Uh. Good night,” Asahi said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah.” Noya regarded him for a minute. “I guess I should have waited to, y’know, kiss you til now. That’s usually what you do, right? But I’ll just. Go. I’ll see you around, right?”

Asahi wasn’t sure where the surge of bravery came from; maybe Noya was starting to have an effect on him. Regardless of why, he leaned down and quickly kissed Noya’s cheek, the same side Noya had kissed him on, and drew back to see Noya’s eyes sparkling with wonder. “I’m glad I went out tonight because I met you,” he said, the words tumbling out in one breath but each one distinct, because he wanted Noya to hear it, needed him to know, and he couldn’t put a name to the swooping feeling in his stomach that being around Noya kept giving him, so this would have to do.

Noya seized his hands, beaming up at him, and replied, “Next time I’ll kiss you for real, I promise. So get ready for it.” Asahi had never gone red so quickly, and that counted tonight after the dibs comment, but it only made Noya’s grin grow even wider. “Is next Friday too soon?”

“Not soon enough,” Asahi blurted out without thinking. “I mean, no, it’s not too soon. No, I mean, yes, it’s fine.”

“Great!” One last squeeze of their clasped hands, and then Noya turned heel and disappeared into the night, and it felt like he’d taken Asahi’s breath right from his chest with him.

Back inside, he fumbled with his dorm keys, and vaguely decided he ought to thank Daichi and Suga for making him go out tonight. How was he going to explain all this? It felt like his own mind was only starting to really catch up, he’d been operating on instinct and impulse for so long, but that was the way it had to be to keep up with Noya. Not that it was a bad thing, in fact, it was something Asahi liked, liked a lot, how he had to do what came naturally and it didn’t leave any room for overthinking, and that was a nice burden to have lifted for a little while, and it’d be nice to have it lifted again by seeing Noya next week. And now he just had to tell his friends he had a date for next Friday, which had _never_ happened, but if they asked how he and Noya met, would he have to start with the dibs thing, or with the part after? He supposed it was all the same story, and he had a funny feeling Noya would start with the dibs thing if someone asked him first, and he supposed it was funny, if nothing else but--

His phone started buzzing in his pocket and broke him from his reverie as he pushed his way into his dorm. “Why did Suga text me ten times in a row?” he asked the empty room, frowning. The phone kept going off unrelentingly as more and more texts kept rolling in and Asahi grappled with it for a minute, struggling to actually open his inbox with notifications taking up the screen every other second.

_**suga:** WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!!_

_**suga:** asahi is that tanakas roommate how did you even meet him_

_**suga:** well never mind it doesnt matter how i guess_

_**suga:** what matters_

_**suga:** is_

_**suga:** what is GOING ON with YOU AND HIM_

_**suga:** AND YOU DIDNT WANT TO EVEN GO_

_**suga:** I DIDNT EVEN THINK YOU LEFT YOUR ROOM HONESTLY IM MILDLY IMPRESSED????_

_**suga:** seriously where were you i didnt see you ANYWHERE_

_**suga:** because APPARENTLY_

_**suga:** you were too busy FLIRTING with NISHINOYA_

_**asahi:** ???_

_**suga:** DONT ??? ME ASAHI_

_**asahi:** ???????_

_**suga:** I WILL COME OVER TO YOUR DORM AND HIT YOU I SWEAR TO GOD_

_**asahi:** I know you would! Please don’t!!_

_**asahi:** How do you know about Nishinoya???_

_**suga:** OH SO ITS TRUE!!!!!!!!_

_**suga:** stop playing games w/ me asahi im smarter than you_

_**suga:** i mean now that the shock has worn off i guess i can be happy for you_

_**suga:** i guess_

_**suga:** you make a cute pair_

_**suga:** I GUESS_

_**asahi:** ?????????????_

_**suga:** asahi do you even know whats going on on your own instagram?????_

_**suga:** get it together already!!!!!!_

_**suga:** thats it im changing your name in my phone to ‘negative goatee’ again you dont get to have a name anymore_

Still frowning, Asahi took Suga’s advice, and was abruptly reminded of something he’d forgotten.

Oh. That.

Noya had posted that selfie of them in the hallway, still such a brief time ago. Asahi remembered that. It’d actually turned out nice, considering the circumstances, both of them squished into frame and only a little blurry. But nothing about it was overtly flirtatious, really, so what was Suga all wound up about?

Asahi’s eyes dropped to the caption and found his answer.

_hey asahi when u see this - can i tell people this was our first date???? ;) ;) ;)_

Oh. _That._

Instead of texting Suga back - there were seven new messages waiting for him and he was starting to wonder if Suga had anything better to do - he thumbed through his contact list, finally finding the newest addition. Noya had put a heart next to his contact name, and Asahi couldn’t help but regard it fondly. That was going to stay as it was.

_**asahi:** Yes._

_**noya <3:** YES WHAT?????_

_**asahi:** About the date thing._

_**asahi:** I saw what you wrote when you stole my phone…_

_**noya <3:** OH THAT_

_**noya <3:** NICE!!!!!! ryuu didnt think youd agree but ill kick his ass for u dont worry_

_**asahi:** I’m not worried._

_**noya <3:** mark my words im gonna find a movie you wont cry at but even if you do ill be happy just to see you yknow?????_

_**asahi:** I’m looking forward to it._

_**asahi:** Good night, Noya._

_**noya <3:** gnight asahi!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3_

_**asahi:** <3_

_**noya <3:** UR ADORABLE WTF STOP_

_**noya <3:** DONT ACTUALLY STOP_

_**noya <3:** eh u know what i mean u probs couldnt stop being adorable if u tried u big softie_

Asahi was actually starting to laugh at his phone, swept up in a whirlwind of giddiness as his eyes glossed over the words again and again. He replayed the night in retrospect; the image of Noya’s bright smile was imprinted in his memory with nothing short of absolute permanence. As if he could forget. As if he wanted to.

He still had the selfie up on his phone screen and, after another moment of consideration, set it as his profile picture. He figured, if nothing else, Noya would get a kick out of it. Especially the caption:

_@rrrrollingthunder: dibs (on the picture at least) (and you too???) (see you soon) (bye) ( <3)_

**Author's Note:**

> today (april 7) is my haikyuu fic-writing anniversary, and this fic is posted to honor that! it's a tiny little milestone all things considered but i've had such a fun year writing haikyuu fics - aside from helping me write a little bit almost every day and therefore helping me be a better writer, it's been a great comfort to me, moreso than i can really describe, and i've made such cool wonderful supportive friends in the community. <3 i'm very grateful for the warm reception i've gotten from people here on ao3 and on tumblr, every single comment or kudos, and i look forward to finishing more wips!! (like this one, which is over a year old and was only completed recently. lmao whoops) wish me luck! ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ  
> 


End file.
